Given name & surname
Claus
“of the victorious people”
Claus has an alternative spelling in Klaus. One German interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Claus has an alternative spelling in Klaus. One German interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Claus is a short form of Nicholas. An origin associated with Nicholas is Dutch.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Claus is a short form of Nicholas. The history of Nicholas gives this family its wider story. Nicholas’s Christian associations include Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra in Lycia, about whom virtually nothing factual is known.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Claus through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 366
- 366 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1916
- 13 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1980. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 13 in 1916. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 787 as a first name in 2020; 3,448 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Claus’s family of names
Claus is a short form of Nicholas. Claus shares a linguistic root with Klaas. In English usage, Claus has a conventional equivalent in the French form Nico.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Claus has relatives in 5 languages.
8 related names in 5 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Claus
- Claus von StauffenbergGerman aristocrat, army officer and resistance fighter (1907-1944)
- Claus SluterFrench artist (1340–1406)
- Claus JensenDanish footballer (born 1977)
- Claus OffeGerman political sociologist1940–2025
- Claus SchillingGerman physician hanged for unethical medical experiments under fascism in Germany and Italy (1871-1946)
- Claus von BülowBritish socialite (1926–2019)
- Claus ChristiansenDanish footballerborn 1967
- Claus HolmGerman actor (1918–1996)
- Claus PeymannGerman theatre director and manager (1937—2025)
Characters named Claus: Klaus Baudelaire (fictional character).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Claus, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Rochus
“one who is calm; restful”
>99% boys
Erhardt
“a man of strong resolve”
>99% boys
Erhard
“a man of strong resolve”
>99% boys
Dunk
“a dark warrior”
>99% boys
Niilo
“of the victorious people”
>99% boys
Othmar
“treasure”
>99% boys
Erasmus
“one who is dearly loved”
>99% boys
Erhart
“a man of strong resolve”
>99% boys